Please join us for the 2022 BE HERD TFA qualifying tournament January 21-22, 2022! BE HERD 2022 will be virtual, all events will be synchronous, and we are using NSDA campus. 

All events will be waitlisted upon registration to allow for schools to enjoy an equitable representation at the tournament. You will have the opportunity to rank your students in order of priority on the waitlist.

All performers are responsible for securing performance copyright permissions.

All participants, including coaches, judges, and competitors are responsible for adhering to professional code of conduct standards as outlined by TFA, UIL, and NSDA. Harassment of any kind, abusive or profane language, bullying will not be tolerated.

Deadlines - 

​​Registration Opens on Tabroom.com - December 9, 2021

Entry Deadline - Monday, January 17, 2022

Drop Deadline - Wednesday, January 19, 2022

Judge Registration Deadline - Wednesday, January 19, 2022

Fees - 

$10.00 Entry Fee for IE’s (including Duo/Duet) 

$15.00 Entry Fee for LD & Congress

$25.00 Entry Fee for PF & CX 

$50.00 Judging Fee for uncovered slots - this fee will be used to pay our hired judges.

$20.00 Day-of Drop fee (per drop)

Judging Obligation - 

IE’s (including Duo & Duet) - 1 judge for every 6 entries or portions thereof

LD/PF - 1 judge for every 4 entries or portions thereof

CX - 1 judge for every 2 entries or portions thereof

Every effort will be made to panel all semis and finals rounds, TFA final rounds will be given priority. All ballots will be online and can be retrieved by coaches in Tabroom.com. 

NOTE: The same judge may cover 1 debate slot and 1 IE slot. If you are having trouble registering as a judge in Tabroom.com, please notify Witt or Mack and we will fix it. 

We are pleased to offer the following TFA & UIL events: 

Interpretation

Dramatic

Duo

Humorous

Poetry

Program of Oral Interpretation

Prose

Speaking

Informative Speaking (TFA)

International Extemp

Original Oratory

US Extemp

Debate

Congressional

Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Policy Debate

Public Forum Debate

**No novice divisions will be offered.

Debate Resolutions:

Congressional Debate - TFA Spring Docket - Items 1-5 for Prelims; 

Items 6-10 for finals; chambers may set the docket order. 

LD Debate - UIL Spring 2022 Resolution - wording pending

Policy Debate - 2021-22 Resolution - Resolved: The United States 

federal government should substantially increase its protection of 

water resources in the United States. 

Public Forum Debate - NSDA January Resolution - Resolved: The 

United States federal government should legalize all illicit drugs. 

NOTE: We will break brackets in debate where possible. 

Interpretation Scripts & Speech Manuscripts

There will be no formal documentation for registration, however, scripts/manuscripts must be available to the tournament directors in the event of a protest. 

Extemp Draw - 

Extemp Draw will be held in a zoom room. Unless otherwise stated in the schedule, draw will begin at the posted round time. 

Event Rules - 

TFA qualifying events will adhere to the rules in the most current 

edition of the TFA Constitution. (This includes CX & LD Debate)

UIL events will adhere to the rules in the most recent edition of the 

UIL Constitution & Contest Rules. Prose and Poetry entries are 

encouraged to bring both categories, but it is NOT a requirement of 

the tournament. There will be no grace period in prose/poetry. 

Cross Entries -

1. Students may cross enter ONLY 1 debate event and ONLY 1 Extemp 

2. Students may enter 2 events in Pattern A and 2 events in Pattern B

3. Extempers MUST check-in to extemp and may ONLY perform in another event before extemp with permission of the Extemp Draw Director. 

4. Students cross-entered at their own risk, and are strongly encouraged to “sign in” to their 2nd event in a pattern so that the judge knows to wait for them. 

5. Signing in Protocol

1. Go to the competition room for a CROSS-ENTRY that you plan to compete in second in that round

2. Verify that you are with the judge for that event, that round

3. Politely explain that you are cross entered and will be back to perform for them ASAP

4. Put your name in the chat and the event you are cross entered in

5. Go to the first event competition room

6. Verify that you are with the judge for that event, that round

7. Politely explain that you are cross entered and will leave immediately following your performance to go to your next event.

Online Tournament Etiquette/Expectations

1. Tournament directors will send out a blast when postings go up. Our goal is to have postings up and blasts sent out 30 minutes prior to the start time. 

2. Judges & competitors should enter your competition room/extemp draw 15 minutes prior to the start of the round to confirm connections and audio/visual checks.  (In cases of late posting, proceed to your room ASAP). 

3. Enter rooms with camera and microphone off, in case someone is performing when you enter. 

4. All competitors and judges should have cameras on and microphones muted during performances, when possible. 

5. Students/judges who are NOT performing should be conscious of their audience etiquette - do not be distracting during the performance and do be a supportive audience member. 

6. If there is a connection issue that can be resolved with the turning off of cameras for those NOT speaking, that will be allowed AT THE JUDGE’S DISCRETION. Judges will notify tab if this solution is implemented in their round. Judge cameras should be turned on unless this is implemented for everyone else in the room. 

7. If a student has a connection issue during the round, the following protocol will be followed

1. Student will be give up to 2 minutes to reconnect without interruption of their performance/speech.

2. If connection cannot be reestablished in 2 minutes or less, the student should notify their coach and the coach shall notify the tabroom. 

3. Student will be given up to 10 minutes to reconnect in IE’s and their speaker order will be bumped.

4. Student will be given up to 10 minutes to reconnect in debate before the round is forfeited. 

5. Students in IE’s will be given up to 20 minutes to reconnect in IE’s before the round is forfeited. 

8. If a judge has a connection issue during the round, the following protocol will be followed. 

1. Competitors remain in the competition room until notified otherwise by tabroom.

2. If the judge cannot reconnect within 2 minutes or less, notify the tabroom. 

3. If the judge cannot reestablish connection within 10 minutes, a new judge will be assigned to the round. 

Sweepstakes -

IE’s & Congress (Including Duo/Duet)

1st - 20

2nd - 15

3rd - 10

Non-placing Finalist - 7

Non-advancing Semi-finalist - 5

Debate

Finalist - 20

Non-advancing Semi-finalist - 15

Non-advancing Quarter-finalist - 7

Each Prelim Win - 1

Tournament Schedule

Pattern A - Extemp, Poetry, HI, OO, Duo

Pattern B - Prose, DI, Informative, Duet, POI

Friday, January 20 2022

9:00 AM - Registration; Debate Round 1 - CX, LD, PF; Congress Prelims;

10:00 AM - Flight 2 - LD, PF

11:00 PM - Debate Round 2 - CX, LD, PF

12:00 PM - Flight 2 - LD, PF

1:00 PM - Debate Round 3 - CX, LD, PF; Congress Finals

2:00 PM - Flight 2 - LD, PF

3:00 PM - Quarters Debate

4:15 PM -  Semis LD & PF

5:00 PM - Semis CX Debate

5:30 PM - Finals LD & PF

7:00 PM - Finals CX Debate 

NOTE: Debate elims will be accelerated where possible. 

Saturday, January 22, 2022

9:00 AM - Registration; Round 1, Pattern A

11:00 AM - Round 1, Pattern B

1:00 PM - Round 2, Pattern A

3:00 PM - Round 2, Pattern B

5:00 PM - Semis/Finals of Pattern A (semis for events with 25+ entries)

6:00 PM - Semis/Finals of Pattern B (semis for events with 25+ entries)

7:00 PM - Finals of Pattern A&B (events with 25+ entries)